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Chapter 751 New Military System 4
Diego Angelo, a Spanish captain, sailed from Acapulco, the governor's district of the New World, on the Spanish galleon Montanes in the eighth year of Jingyang (1612). He followed the equatorial current and was captured by the Ming navy just as he approached the Philippine Islands.

After studying Chinese for a period of time in the Europa Temple in Nanhai Zi, Jing Yang voluntarily joined the Ming Navy in the ninth year, starting as a sailor and gunner. With his rich sailing experience and a fairly smart mind, he learned most of the new knowledge in more than three years, and passed the captain's examination in the eleventh year.

But no one in the navy dared to let a captive from the Western Regions be a captain, and it was not worth asking the emperor for such a small matter. So he had the qualification of a captain for nothing, but he could only watch newcomers take up the position of captain, while he could only work as a boatswain or navigator.

Two years passed in a blink of an eye. Yuan Keli resigned as the Governor of the Navy and was taken over by Wang Sheng. After taking office, Wang Sheng was more steady and did not do anything out of the ordinary.

Angelo had lived in the Ming Dynasty for several years, and he thought that the warship was hopeless, and he probably knew why, so he took the initiative to apply for a transfer to the Maritime Affairs Office. The captain of an armed cargo ship is also a captain, and it is better to command a large ship than to be someone else's deputy.

I thought I would either retire in the shipping department or die in a storm at sea, but I didn’t expect that God would suddenly bless me. Oh, not God, but the emperor.

Diego Angelo became the first senior Western officer in the navy, and was appointed by the emperor as the commander of the Maritime Transport Department, and was awarded the rank of Xuanwu General from the fourth rank. His partner was a young man from the Navy General Staff named Yan Bushi, a sixth rank Zhaoxin Captain.

Although his rank was low, Angelo did not dare to look down on this deputy. Since he entered the navy, all new knowledge, from identifying sea charts to using sextants to calculate routes, was taught by these young people. It was said that they all came from a mysterious place, the school where the emperor taught personally, the Sea Hu Division.

With the appointment of officials, the temporary name of the Maritime Affairs Office came to an end. From then on, the Maritime Affairs Office was officially renamed the Maritime Affairs Department of the General Staff, which had more than 300 near-shore transport ships of various types, more than 50 ocean-going armed cargo ships, and more than 23000 employees.

From Songshan Port in Jinzhou to Manila Port, there are more than 20 large port warehouse areas, which undertake most of the material circulation in coastal provinces and overseas territories, as well as the logistics supply of the navy and army.

The original Naval Patrol Guard was upgraded to the Naval Patrol Commandery, which specializes in offshore surveillance, anti-smuggling, anti-bandit, and rescue. It is also a base for the placement of disabled personnel on the front line and the training and assessment of new recruits.

Mao Wenlong, the new commander of the patrol and defense department, was awarded the rank of general of Wude, a fifth-rank rank. He originally served in the Liaodong frontier army and was a subordinate of Li Chengliang.

After Liaodong Town was abolished, he followed Li Ruzhang to the navy. Yuan Keli commented that he was bold, careful and unconventional. After Li Ruzhang transferred to the army, he was transferred to the patrol guard as a captain.

After all, he was a historical figure, so Hong Tao had to pay more attention to him, so Zhao Zhenyuan, formerly a captain of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the patrol guard. He was awarded the rank of fourth-rank Xuanwu general.

Since it is a military reform, we cannot just reorganize the navy, army and new army. The original army must also be reorganized, and this should be the focus.

Let's talk about the garrisons first. This military unit is the most troublesome for Hong Tao, and it is also the one with the most serious historical problems and the most difficult to deal with. The Ming Dynasty had more than 400 garrisons and more than 100 directly-administered thousand-household garrisons. On paper, there were nearly three million garrison soldiers.

Each garrison soldier has a family. If we calculate based on the minimum of 4 people, the garrisons alone account for more than 133 million people, which is simply too big to be eliminated. Faced with such a large population, no one can directly lay off the garrisons. So many people lost their jobs and livelihood security, and the whole country immediately fell into chaos. At the beginning of last year, Hong Tao laid off garrisons in one go. It seemed very neat, but in fact it had been prepared for more than four years. Jinyiwei and Dongchang have been secretly sending people to check and confirm that the false reporting phenomenon is serious. They dared to take action only after making personnel arrangements in advance.

These dismissed garrison troops and their families would see official documents from the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Construction, which clearly stated that they could choose to join the construction team of the Ministry of Construction or the farms under the Ministry of Agriculture.

The engineering team will go to various parts of the country to build roads and water conservancy facilities. Currently, the largest projects are basically in the north, especially in the southern part of the Hetao area. Although the salary is not as good as that of the new army, it is almost the same as that of the border army. The most important thing is that it can be paid in full on a monthly basis, which is enough to support a family of four.

If you don't want to travel around, you can also participate in the Ministry of Agriculture's farm project. Applicants can choose two regions, and the Ministry of Agriculture will arrange land, distribute seeds, farm tools and livestock. Depending on the conditions, a few households or more than a dozen households will work together to cultivate and harvest.

The first area is the southern part of Hetao, which used to be the pasture of the Ordos tribe. After being defeated by the army, they had to retreat to the north of the Yellow River. The large tracts of pasture and arable land that were vacated were shared by the Tumed tribe and the Ming Dynasty.

The natural environment of this area is completely different from that of later generations. There are many rivers and fertile land, which is very suitable for farming. In line with the concept of win-win cooperation, the north belongs to the Tumed tribe and the south belongs to the Ming Dynasty. As long as Guihua City is not lost, conservatively speaking, half of the Hetao can easily feed hundreds of thousands of people.

After the volunteers sign a contract with the Ministry of Agriculture, each household can be allocated 20 mu of arable land and 20 mu of wasteland. The ownership belongs to the farm, and what to plant, how to plant, and the price when harvested are all determined by the Ministry of Agriculture.

In this way, the risks of the farm are greatly reduced. As long as there are no major natural disasters or man-made disasters, farmers can earn enough to feed their families in the autumn, and may even be rich.

Of course, the risk is small and the return is naturally small. It is a bit difficult to make a fortune by relying on the farm. In the final analysis, this is a short-term appeasement method. The Ministry of Agriculture is also following the emperor's intention to reduce the number of refugees as much as possible and ensure social stability.

想靠勤劳致富也成，那就别怕冒风险。农业部还有第二份契约，目的地为吕宋特区。一旦签约就可以获得30亩荒地、2套农具、2套盔甲兵器、3匹牛马驴和5枚胜利银币的安家费。

Going to Hetao gives 40 acres, and going to Luzon only gives 30 acres. Comparing the two, it seems that no one is willing to bring their families thousands of miles away to make a living. It's not worth it.

In fact, the ownership of the 40 acres of land given in the southern part of Hetao belongs to the farm, while the ownership of the 30 acres of wasteland given in the Luzon Special Zone belongs to the individual, which is % private property.

Moreover, after these 30 acres of land meet the conditions for land reclamation, there will be a 5-year rent-free period and a 5-year rent reduction period, which is very tempting for those who want to turn their lives around through hard work.

(End of this chapter)